Pink Lemonade Bars

When I made these lemonade bars, the light bulb in our kitchen had stopped functioning and as darkness drew closer to the early evening, depending on only the light from a desk lamp, the photos turned out rather moody.

I think these are best chilled a little, and a wonderful accompaniment is a little vanilla chantilly cream- just whip some double cream to soft peaks and fold in a touch of vanilla extract or the tip of a teaspoon of vanilla paste (you could also use half cream, half greek yoghurt).

Recipe from Smitten Kitchen

Pink Lemonade Bars

Makes about 30

Ingredients:
For the shortcrust base:
50g granulated sugar
¼ tsp lemon zest
 1/8 tsp salt
115g unsalted butter
125g plain flour, sifted
For the filling:
140g fresh or frozen raspberries
2 eggs
150g granulated sugar
60ml lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
40g plain flour

icing sugar

Method:
1. Pre heat the oven to 180°C/ 350F/Gas 4. Grease and line an 8x8x2 inch baking pan, leaving some paper hanging over two of the sides.

2.For the base, blend together the sugar, lemon zest and salt in a food  processor or medium-large mixing bowl. Mix in the butter and, once combined, add the flour until just combined. Transfer the dough into the baking pan and press in to evenly cover the base and press about ½ an inch up each of the sides. Bake for 15 minutes or until light golden brown at the edges and dry on the surface.

3. For the filling, blend the raspberries to a puree in a food processor (or directly press through a sieve) and strain through a sieve to remove seeds, ensuring you have at least 80ml of smooth raspberry puree

4. In a bowl or food processor, beat together the eggs, sugar and lemon juice. Mix in 3 tablespoons of the raspberry puree and stir in the flour.  Pour the mixture over the crust and bake for a further 25-30minutes, or until just set. Cool on a wire rack before slicing into portions and dusting with icing sugar.